Identification of a Region in the Common Amino-terminal Domain of Hendra Virus P, V, and W Proteins Responsible for Phase Transition and Amyloid Formation

Autor: Edoardo Salladini, Frank Gondelaud, Juliet F. Nilsson, Giulia Pesce, Christophe Bignon, Maria Grazia Murrali, Roxane Fabre, Roberta Pierattelli, Andrey V. Kajava, Branka Horvat, Denis Gerlier, Cyrille Mathieu, Sonia Longhi
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Biomolecules, Vol 11, Iss 9, p 1324 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2218-273X
DOI: 10.3390/biom11091324
Popis: Henipaviruses are BSL-4 zoonotic pathogens responsible in humans for severe encephalitis. Their V protein is a key player in the evasion of the host innate immune response. We previously showed that the Henipavirus V proteins consist of a long intrinsically disordered N-terminal domain (NTD) and a β-enriched C-terminal domain (CTD). The CTD is critical for V binding to DDB1, which is a cellular protein that is a component of the ubiquitin ligase E3 complex, as well as binding to MDA5 and LGP2, which are two host sensors of viral RNA. Here, we serendipitously discovered that the Hendra virus V protein undergoes a liquid-to-hydrogel phase transition and identified the V region responsible for this phenomenon. This region, referred to as PNT3 and encompassing residues 200–310, was further investigated using a combination of biophysical and structural approaches. Congo red binding assays, together with negative-staining transmisison electron microscopy (TEM) studies, show that PNT3 forms amyloid-like fibrils. Fibrillation abilities are dramatically reduced in a rationally designed PNT3 variant in which a stretch of three contiguous tyrosines, falling within an amyloidogenic motif, were replaced by three alanines. Worthy to note, Congo red staining experiments provided hints that these amyloid-like fibrils form not only in vitro but also in cellula after transfection or infection. The present results set the stage for further investigations aimed at assessing the functional role of phase separation and fibrillation by the Henipavirus V proteins.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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